


that one time

by brahe



Series: mckirk beyond [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M, also feat. friendship feels, jim stole a cactus once, leonard is sentimental, mckirkbeyond, spock is hiding a rebellious streak, story time with the alpha crew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 03:22:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7491450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brahe/pseuds/brahe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard tells the alpha crew stories about Jim from the Academy days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	that one time

**Author's Note:**

> day two of mckirk beyond, prompt: academy shenanigans. this didn't exactly go how i planned? and it's kind of a hodge podge of feels and me trying to be funny. it's a little disjointed, but so are they~

It’s starts on the shuttle and never stops. There was never a period of tentative friendship with them; no, with Jim, it was all at once. Less than 24 hours into their acquaintance Jim’s crashed on Leonard's sofa, flipping through worn old medical books Leonard still has hardcopies of and complaining about his classmates like it’s something that happens every day. The ease in which conversation flows between them is welcome, nice even, and Leonard finds that, in less than a week, Jim is one of the best friends he’s ever had.

 

They get to know each other through long nights of studying and drinking, secrets spilling easily between them in dark dorms. Leonard has never told anyone this much about himself, but he finds that when he starts talking to Jim, when the topic shifts to truths and pasts, his tongue is loose. He finds that he _wants_  to tell Jim his life story, wants to talk about the hate and the guilt and the anger that’s been building up in his veins for so long.

 

And Jim, well, Jim is right there with him the whole time, trading a story of his own tragic past for one of Leonard’s. In less than a semester, Jim knows about Leonard’s father and his divorce, and Leonard knows about Jim’s family and his self-doubts that keep him down like weights on a balloon. In less than a semester, there isn’t anything between them anymore, everything out in the open like it’s never been for either of them before. And it’s nice. It’s surprisingly pleasant to know there’s someone who knows him perhaps better than he knows himself.

 

And so it happens that Leonard doesn’t have any story from the Academy days that don’t feature one James Tiberius Kirk. All of the shenanigans can be traced back to Jim’s insatiable desire for causing trouble.

 

*

 

The alpha crew has gathered in one of the smaller rec rooms for games and drinks, and they’re looking for a topic when Jim pipes up, the grin on his face a dangerously knowing one.

 

“What’s your best story, from back at the Academy?” he asks, and the table splits into laughs and groans. Jim elbows Spock, who’s seated beside him.

 

“Did you do anything besides study?"

 

“In fact I did,” Spock says, and he sounds almost indignant. The table suddenly quiets, very interested.

 

“What’d you do, steal books from the library?” Leonard quips, good-naturedly. That, in fact, is something Jim has done, and he knows Jim is thinking of the same story if the slightly panicked glance Jim is giving him is anything to go by.

 

Spock shakes his head once. “I broke into the research lab and stole one of the samples of Antican hives. My biology professor did not have a good week."

 

None of them expected that kind of story from the Vulcan, and there’s cheers and laughter around the table.

 

“What about you, Captain?” Spock asks. Jim shakes his head with a smile.

 

“I have way too many stories,” he says. “And I’m sure you’ve heard them all. Uhura, though,” he says, turning to her, “I’m sure has some fascinating stories."

 

Uhura’s smile is a sarcastic one. Jim settles back into his chair, satisfied, but Uhura has a different idea.

 

“Leonard!” she says, drawing out his name in the same tone Jim uses whenever he wants something. She leans over, sweet smile not hiding her intentions very well. “I would _love_  to hear about your academy days."

 

It seems his plan failed, and Jim is genuinely panicked now.

 

“Well,” Leonard starts. This could go a few ways. Jim is a prominent character in all of the good stories, and he thinks about which is the best. “Askin’ me to tell you a story is pretty much like askin’ Jim for one, but I’m sure I can think of a good one."

 

Jim leans across the table, almost flattens his chest against it, and wraps his hands around Leonard’s forearms. He says nothing, but his expression is a pleading one. With his foot, Leonard taps the side of Jim’s leg twice and smiles at him. Jim’s face lands on the table with a groan.

 

Leonard sits back in his seat and begins the tale.

 

“There’s quite a few stories to tell,” he says. “The time Jim released a crate full of crickets into the gym, or the time he rode his bike through the halls to all his classes. But one of my favorites is the one with the cactus."

 

Jim’s head lifts up at that, and the look he gives Leonard is a questioning one. Of all the ones to pick, he hadn’t expected that.

 

“Jim had been complaining about his xenobotany class all week. First, the professors a bore, then his lab partner nearly catches him on fire, and there’s too much homework…the list goes on. By Friday, Jim has established a plan. There was a single cactus in the lab, the professor’s most prized cactus, and a sort of symbol for the class. So, of course, Jim is going to steal it. ‘I’m trying to prove a point, Bones,’ he tells him. Whatever. By this point, I just ignore his schemes."

 

There’s a startled “hey!” from Jim, and Leonard’s lips quirk into a smirk. He continues.

 

“Friday afternoon, I’m back at our dorm from my hospital shift. I open the door, and our entire dorm is covered in cactus. And there’s Jim, stuck in the center of the room with a sheepish smile. ‘I can explain!’ he says, as if that’ll make a different. As I’m picking my way though the maze, Jim begins to tell me about how, as he’s running from the lab with the cactus in his hand, something explodes in another lab he passes by, and he dashes through a large pink cloud. By the time he got to the dorm, the cactus had tripled in size, and continued to grow rather rapidly."

 

“How did you get it out of your dorm?” Sulu asks. Leonard shrugs.

 

“Jim’s botany professor was not very pleased to have to come and retrieve his pet plant from our room. He was significantly less pleased to find his nice desk plant had turned into a giant."

 

“It wasn’t that bad…” Jim says, but it’s hardly convincing. Leonard laughs.

 

“You were stuck in the same spot for two hours, surrounded by cactus limbs!"

 

“Yes, okay, that happened,” Jim admits.

 

The laughter fades as Scotty begins his own story, and Jim shifts around so that he’s next to Leonard.

 

“Why that one?” he asks, quiet enough so the others don’t hear. Leonard’s smile is small, personal.

 

“You know why."

 

Once the plant had been safely removed from their dorm, Leonard had spent an hour patching up the little scratches that littered Jim’s skin, and spent the hour after that kissing him senseless.

Jim presses his body a little closer to Leonard’s, squeezes his arm for just a moment. His story is a surprisingly sentimental one, and Jim is suddenly nostalgic. He lets his head fall onto Leonard’s shoulder as the stories continue, and not for the first time he wonders how he managed to end up here after all.

**Author's Note:**

> there might be a short sequel featuring cactus jokes in the future.


End file.
